WOODLAWN, Md. (AP) — Two Baltimore city police officers were shot and a suspect was killed as a U.S. Marshals’ task force served a warrant outside a mall Tuesday morning, authorities said.
The suspect was being sought for involvement in a homicide on June 19, Baltimore Police Commissioner Michael Harrison said.
“Our officers were pursuing this individual,” Harrison said. “They were doing their jobs when they were fired upon and were struck.”
“What we saw today was exactly what officers go through; these are the most dangerous situations imaginable, but they did their jobs with bravery, with courage and with professionalism,” he added.
The wounded officers were taken to the University of Maryland Medical Center’s shock trauma unit, where the physician-in-chief, Thomas Scalea, said “both were seriously ill when they arrived.”
“We were able to get them stabilized,” he said. “Both will require some therapy. We expect both of them to survive.”
A police statement said “the suspect suffered at least one gunshot wound and was pronounced deceased.”
A large section of the parking lot at Security Square Mall in Woodlawn was cordoned off with crime tape as officers collected evidence surrounding a pickup truck, which had bullet holes in the driver’s side window and windshield. Some two dozen police officers, paramedics and other officials gathered at the entrance to the Tokyo Seafood Hibachi Grill & Sushi, and a police helicopter hovered above the area.
The rest of the sprawling shopping mall complex was largely open to the public Tuesday morning.
The U.S. Marshals Capital Area Regional Fugitive Task Force apprehends fugitives in the Washington, D.C. and Baltimore area, generally for violent crimes.
In February, a deputy U.S. Marshal was shot and wounded, and a suspect was killed, during an exchange of gunfire as law enforcement officials tried to arrest the man, wanted for attempted murder and robbery, in Baltimore.
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